Suggestions for a home mill to make medium/large quantities of peanut butters?

October 22, 2009 11:54 AM

Looking for a hardy mill/grinder/machine for regular home-made peanut butter making.

Due to dietary requirements I'm eating a lot more nuts. Recently I had a go at making some peanut butter using a food blender. The outcome was very tasty however far too chunky and not very well mixed. I'd like to start making peanut butter more regularly to suppliment my diet and to give to family & friends.

I've been searching online for something relevant but can't seem to find anything other than some hand-cranked grain mills and coffee mills - all of which are too flimsy and small and look as though they would require a full-day's use to make a single small jar's worth.

Can someone suggest a hardy peanut butter mill/grinder/machine/maker that I can use daily/weekly that will allow me to make a few large jar-fulls in a couple of hours?

posted by refactored to food & drink (7 comments total)

Have you tried a food processor (Cuisinart) instead of a blender? If you run it long enough to emulsify the ground peanuts it comes out quite smooth.
posted by Wet Spot at 11:57 AM on October 22, 2009

I make my own peanut butter from raw peanuts I roast. I make about 2-4 cups at a time, and have been doing it for about 3 or 4 years now. I use my Vitamix blender and it works perfectly. Making peanut butter was the main reason I got it because I completely destroyed 5 "normal" blenders in a row making nut butters before I just ponied up (lots) of dough for the Vitamix. It's awesome, but it ain't cheap. On the plus side, though, it is probably the handy dandiest thing to have in the kitchen ever.
posted by hecho de la basura at 12:12 PM on October 22, 2009

Food processor is the way to go, good for hummus too. I don't know of a hand operated machine that would do the job as well.
posted by electroboy at 12:21 PM on October 22, 2009

We use our Cuisinart for peanut butter pretty frequently and it works great.
posted by something something at 12:43 PM on October 22, 2009

I used my Cuisinart with excellent results until I burned out the motor using it for that purpose ):

My recipe:
Throw a couple cups of peanuts in the food processor
When it starts to look like a paste, add a little salt and a little honey
When it starts to form a ball, add a little peanut oil
Let it do its thing for like, two minutes or so.
If you want "chunky" style, add another 1/2 cup or so of nuts at this point and let them become chopped.
Now your peanut butter will be perfect, and also warm, which makes it easy to pour/scrape into jars, but your Cuisinart will be broken, so it may not be worthwhile, costwise.
posted by serazin at 10:15 PM on October 22, 2009

If money is no object, I would go for a VitaMix or VitaPrep. They are very powerful blenders with variable speeds (and a dial!), they're killer at emulsifying and grinding.

Another option is a RoboCoup.

These are both professional grade, standard food processors, and should be available if there's a restaurant supply store in your town.
posted by kaiseki at 2:17 AM on October 23, 2009

I don't mind paying more for quality & features. If it's strong enough it should have a very long warrenty and last years, decades, maybe even a lifetime.
posted by refactored at 11:49 PM on October 23, 2009